Japanese archaeologists from Nagoya University examined the main types of stones used by primitive people during the Paleolithic period, between 70 thousand and 30 thousand years ago. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Journal of Paleolithic Archeology (JPA).
Scientists have discovered that our primitive ancestors well understood the properties of different rocks and knew how to select them according to the purposes they needed. This shows that ancient people had the technical skills to choose the best stone for a tool.
When Homo sapiens migrated from Africa to Eurasia, they used stone tools made of obsidian and flint to carve, cut, and make ranged weapons. Researchers believe that early humans deliberately sought flint that was easy to break and had sharp edges.
A study of samples from the Jebel Kalha site in southern Jordan showed that Paleolithic people at some point stopped making tools and weapons for fine-grained, more malleable flint and switched to less malleable medium-grained flint.
Archaeologists have discovered that at some point all the fine-grained flint in the area was damaged as a result of geological activity, as a result of which the mineral became covered with a network of cracks and products made from it became very brittle. Thus, residents had to replace a valuable resource.
“We believe that these prehistoric people understood the properties of rocks and consciously selected the stone material they would use based on the shape and technology of the desired stone tools. This may indicate an aspect of flexible technological behavior adapted to the situation,” said Eiki Shuga, co-author of the study.
Earlier archaeologists to create The oldest depiction of a stone tool from the Early Paleolithic period.